


Stereo

by orphan_account



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: 5x10 doesn't exist, Bloodplay, F/F, Fun angsty times, Harold walks in, Hate Sex, John laughs, My baby is safe with me, Praise Kink, Root is deaf, Root likes to bite, Shaw blames herself, bottom!Shaw, cute fluffy scenes too because we need them, fireplay, he burns it, like a vampire, not just smut i promise, the show ended with 5x9, they're banging on his desk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-10 19:33:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7003381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaw will forever blame herself for when Root got taken by Samaritan trying to save her. The condition Root came back in was worse than Shaw did and her injuries more permanent. How could Root continue to still love her after all this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Voices

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here and I'm aware it kinda sucks but let's hope it gets better.

The powerful rush of blood to her feet forces Root to stumble and fall limply beside the boot clad feet. She hadn't stood in over two months and was pretty sure all her muscles and atrophied. She was pulled back up by more strength than she would ever possess. The little weight and muscle Root had before Samaritan got her was now gone and she looked half dead with just skin and bones. Lifting her was hardly an challenge but she could feel the body emit a sigh as they swong her over their shoulder in a fireman carry. Root didn't bother to open her eyes, not wanting to waste her energy on such a trivial thing, after all she just assume it was another one of the simulations she went through daily.

Shaw tracked down every single lead that could lead her to Root. She hadn't slept more than four hours a night since Samaritan had taken Root, not wanting to waste a single second. She knew although Root may play the part of being unbreakable well, Shaw knew in detail just how wrong that was. She had seen Root crying in the shower after missions went awry and kids ended up dead, seen the vacant look in her eye when anyone brought up their childhood, and even worse when she got into one of her eeyore moods. 

They finally found where Root was being held after some less than affectionate chats with some Samaritan operatives. John had to hold Shaw back after she tried to make a run after the building by herself with less than quarter of a mag. Shaw almost broke his wrist and three ribs fighting him, fun times. 

It was later now and they were more full stocked when they charged the building later with Fusco in tow. Shaw's anger toward Samaritan hadn't died down and she was ready more than ever to put a bullet in its prized child, Greer's, head. They took one of the only people on the planet Shaw gave a damn about and she was not about to let them forget it. 

Finch had helped them get on the floor Root was on, the only thing blocking them from her was a small army of agents with orders to kill. Shaw had half of the men on the ground before her gun clicked, signaling she was out of bullets. The boys took out the others with ease. For government trained lugs, they weren't exactly the crisp of the cut.

The room in which Root was kept was one more down. Shaw sighed deeply before pushing the heavy door open. She gasped audibly and she could feel her eyes getting teary. The sight on the bed was not Root, but instead the beat down broken remains of someone she used to know. Deep violet bruises covered what little of her body she could see and the rest was even paler than usual, if that was even possible. 

Tears stinged as they made their way down Shaw's tan cheeks. Her body was ridged, unmoving, similar to the woman in front of her. She felt Reese's firm grip on her shoulder and she was tugged back to reality and the mission at hand; they had to get Root out of there.

\- - - - - - - -  
The bed that not that long ago held her own body, now hold Root. She hadn't left her side in over two days and Harold was starting to worry. "Ms. Shaw, I understand you concern for Ms. Groves, but don't you think it would be wise to eat something or possibly take a shower?" Shaw merely scoffed at this. She wasn't moving until Root was awake and at least somewhat okay, even if that took weeks. 

Root started to stir three days after they brought her back to the subway. Shaw was asleep but woke up instantly to the rough hand stroking hers. Root's eyes were hallow, lacking emotion. She looked like she was dead, or wouldn't mind being. The thought caused a shiver to run its was through the smaller girl's body. Root tried to talk but she weak voice barely produced words. Harold found out she had, had a second stapedectomy, which didn't help her speech either. She was completely deaf. The machine couldn't even comfort her.

Slowly, but surely, Root started to improve. She gained what little she weighed before back and most of the bruises healed, minus a few deep ones on her ribs, but one thing that couldnt get better was her ears. She had a computer with her so everytime she need something, she'd type it in and wait for a typed reply or for someone to get it for her. This annoyed Shaw to the brink of explosion, she felt like Root wasn't even trying to get better with her speech, and Root, of course, refuse to read lips. A strong depression fell over Root the first few days after she was awake and aware of her situation. She couldn't talk to the machine because her implant was ripped out and she obviously couldn't just put a ear piece in and listen. She felt alone, even if she did have Shaw waiting by her side. Root refused to leave the bed and just stared blankly at the celing for most of the day. Shaw had had enough when one day she finally snapped and pulled Root out of her bed.

Shaw cupped the woman's frail face and stared deeply into chestnut eyes, seeing every emotion Root was to numb to express otherwise. She didn't bother with words, knowing Root couldn't hear them anyway, and placed a soft kiss on Root. "I'm sorry," Root's garbled voice sounded out against the soft lips feathering hers. Shaw pulled back, not believing that the woman had just spoke, but let alone those words. The look in Root's eyes had shifted to a more somber one. Shaw had heard her correctly. What the hell did Root have to be sorry for?


	2. Slience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I watched 5x10 and am in full fledge denial, so this happed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is smut. If that's not your thing, I should be posting another chapter this week.

"What the fuck are you sorry for?" Shaw types, leaning away from Root as she does. The taller woman let's a solo tear roll down her cheek before realizing she wasn't keeping up the whole emotionless badass act and tried to fix her face. She was unsuccessful. Her fingers hovered over the keys of the laptop, unsure of what to type. The clicking starts after a long minute of consideration, which even in her anger, Shaw had to admit Root's thinking face was pretty adorable. The clicks cesed and Root tilted the screen toward the Persian, "I'm sorry for thinking I ever stopped loving you, or you ever stopped looking for me." 

Shaw took a hard exhale. How could Root still love her after all this? Did she love her back? Love had always been one of those emotions that seemed a little fuzzy around the edges to her. She understood the general concept but not the things connected to it. She knew she would hurt anyone who ever hurt Root and she couldn't deny that the idea of Root in her bed beside her made her feel things she couldn't describe with words in her vocabulary. 

Shaw couldn't leave Root just sitting there watching her every reaction so she did the only thing she could thing of; she smashed her lips against Root's, savoring the sweet taste as she slipped her tongue in the parted lips. Suddenly, the taller woman pulled her back and looked deep into her eyes, as if searching for discomfort or unwillingness; she was searching for consent. When Shaw put two and two together, she nodded her head, assuring the other woman. 

With that in mind she flipped the pair over so she was on top of the feisty Persian, who judging by the way she bared her neck for incoming bites, didn't seem to mind the change in position. Root ignored her neck and instead laced her fingers through the long brown hair and brought Shaw's face up to her's. A soft groan escaped Shaw's throat before she could stop herself. She turned bright pink at her sound of pleasure before she remembered Root couldn't hear her. She could be as loud as she wanted and Root couldn't make fun of her for it because she couldn't hear her. Hell, she could scream Root's name as she racked her nail up the porcelain girl's back and not a peep of teasing would come out of Root's mouth. She grinned at the proposition and decided to not conceal any of the sounds she normally would, when she was fucking guys and girls alike. 

Root pushed the soft pads of her fingers along the bottom of the black tank top Shaw was wearing. Getting the memo, rushed hands pushed it over her head. Wet kisses lined a trail from her neck to her collarbone then down her sternum. The trail stopped with a harsh bite to the skin above where Shaw's bra met in the center of her breast. Root hushed the angered flesh my running the tip of her tongue over the new mark. Shaw twisted her hands around her back to unclasp the piece of offending black fabric. She didn't hold back the loud moan as Root took her left nipple in her mouth and nipped it with sharp teeth. Shaw hissed as the tender flesh hit the cold air of the subway. Finch must have turned the air conditioning on or something because Shaw swears it's like the tundra. 

A rough path was drawn as Root grazed her teeth farther down the length of Shaw's torso, leaving angry red marks in her wake. Her nails dragging down the tan girl's back before letting her fingers come forward and latch onto Shaw's hips holding her place as Root's tongue wet a line across the waistband of Shaw's tight, yoga pant like shorts. A light sigh floated out of her mouth as her eyes closed. Root was teasing her without using her words. She could feel the cool air hit the very damp warmth of her core as Root's white teeth dragged the shorts down the expanse of Shaw's long, toned legs.

Shaw could hear the faint clink of familiar metal and her eyes snapped open. Root had a devilish smile on her face and one of the sharp (and thankfully clean) knives flared open in her hand. A loud glup couldn't be ignored as Shaw pondered the ways of which Root could use that knife before the taller girl broke through her thoughts and make a small trail of tiny red droplets from Shaw's collar bone to the middle of her sternum. The cool air dried the blood quickly but the image of wet pouts were fresh in Sameen's head as Root embarked on a new path of the knife and frowning when she already sees old lines on Shaw's hips. 

Ignoring Shaw's silent protests, Root laid a feather kiss on her hip before she could buck them out of the way. Root abandoned the idea of a path on her lower half and instead strattled Shaw's waist and drew a half hearted line across the expanse of her toned stomach. Shaw hated to admit it but Root with the knife was really doing it for her and hoped she would continue when Root pulled a toy to play with our of her pocket; a tiny white lighter.

Shaw would never say it to another living sole, especially one like Root who would never let her live it down, but she was kinky as fuck and one of her favourite thing is fire. She couldn't explain how the little flicker of the flame turned her on so much. Now, with Root teasing her by dangling it in her range of view, it takes all her will power to not slip her hand under Root and finish the job herself.

"Root, so help me," Shaw muttered knowing the deaf girl couldn't hear her. Root smirked, feeling the vibrations of Shaw writhing beneath her. She wanted to keep teasing her but knew the small girl was getting impatient. She nipped at the tan flesh if her neck taking her time to run her long fingers down the exposed torso in front of her, stopping before she reached the place where Shaw was demanding. The small maze of dark brown hair tickling her fingertips. 

Shaw bucked her hips involuntarily against the fingertips on her, wanting more. She didn't have to silently beg any longer because Root decided to stop teasing her and shoved two fingers in her. A hollow moan fluttered out if Shaw's throat coming out like a mew. Root let her get used to sensation before pulling back out and slamming three fingers back in. 

If Root hadn't been deaf before, she would have been now because the sounds Shaw was making, she wasn't they were human. All the bottled up "feelings" she had been compressing since Root had been captured we now coming out in a way she was certain that would result in her coming. 

Shaw was as close as she could get when Root stilled her movements and backed away. Shaw groaned loudly and Root was pretty sure she hissed at her when she opened her eyes. Root grabbed her hand and urged her to follow her toward where she was walking backwards to. It was Finch's desk. A smirk hit Shaw's face when she realized what Root wanted to do. She hopped up where the papers Root just pushed off had been. 

Root sauntered in front of the smaller girl and sat down on her ankles, kissing Shaw's thighs as she went down. Once she was down she nipped at Shaw's inner thigh before licking the length of her core. Root's moan, albeit strange sounding, was intoxicating to Shaw as she tasted the sweet, heady taste of Shaw's arousal.

Root slid her flattened tongue over Shaw's clit before grazing her white teeth over the tight bundle of nerves. Shaw found out very quickly the Root liked to bite and few weeks after she met her. During the time at the pick up site Shaw was sure she must have gained hundreds of small bite marks and bruises, that she was sure Root placed in spots that would be hardest to hide from Finch and Reese. Like the giant purple-red one she left on the front of her neck that John smirked at as soon as he saw her.

Shaw was being so loud she didn't hear Harold opening the door or the clicking if Bear's paws on the subways as they entered. She did, however, hear Finch almost scream when he saw the activities happening on his desk. Root didn't hear him so she continued and despite her best efforts, Shaw came all over Root's face with Finch standing less than a yard away, covering his eyes in horror. 

"Ms. Groves! Ms. Shaw! This is not an appropriate use of your time or my desk!" Finch shouted frantically at the girls who were both trting to cover themselves with the limited clothes around them. Root's brown eyes went wide at Harry and Shaw just looked at him with a smug but fearful look only she could make. She was more concerned that Bear had seen her like that than Finch.

As if on cue after Finch, Reese appeared with food and a disturbed look on his face. "What's going on here?" John asked with a light chuckle in his voice. "Nothing that concerns you Reese," Shaw mutters walking back towards the room that Root was staying in with a jacket half wrapped around her. Root couldn't help but check out her ass as she walked by. A crack rang as a hand met Shaw's ass and by her face you could tell she was just absolutely done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was good as it was written by a lesbian virgin, well physically anyway. I've read too much fanfiction to be one mentally.


	3. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very angsty. You have been warned.

It had been two weeks since the sex in the desk scandal and Harold had yet to recover. He still can't look Shaw or Root in the eye and has completely avoided his desk altogether. 

Root still can't hear or talk to the machine, which means she gets very bored, very quickly. They try to take turns entertaining her but Shaw is definitely her favourite because she can play Russian hands and Roman fingers right where Finch can see. Shaw hates it but it keeps her from trying to leave the subway and go off on her own so she tolerates it. Along with all the ass slaps and heated make out sessions against the wall when she's trying to work out. Okay, so maybe she does more than just tolerate those, but you know what? Root is a damn good fuck and is much more fun when she's kept happy.

The machine had been trying to help them so Root could get her hearing back, but it was taking her longer as Samaritan was online. They couldn't take Root above ground to get a new implant because every agent in the nearby area had Root's photo and a bullet for her.

"Root...Root...you cannot and I will not let you go above ground," Shaw firmly spoke against the girl trying to distract her by kissing her neck. Root grabbed the side of Shaw's neck opposite to he mouth and brought her closer to kiss her harder. "I said... I... I." Root was getting to her and she knew it because she smirked against the skin.

Shaw had flipped herself so she had Root pinned against her bed when John sauntered in with that all knowing smirk. "I brought food. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything," he says with a wink. Shaw gave Root one more hard kiss before pushing back down and hopping off of her. 

The food John brought was hardly food at all according to Shaw. It was from a new vegan place that Root loved that Shaw oh so loathed. "She's never going to get her strength back up if you only feed her rabbit food," Shaw hissed . "Seems to me like she's good plenty of strength," John winks. Shaw purposely shoulder checked him as she passed him with the food back to Root's bed.

Root followed like a puppy. Shaw wasn't sure if it was because she had food or because Root had been in a particularly submissive mood lately. She'd have to further investigate after Reese left. Right now, she sat on the corner of the bed and pulled out a paper wrapped sandwich meant for her and pulled out the veggie wrap for Root. Shaw's face perked up after she tried the food; it was good? It wasn't a kobe steak but it was pretty decent. Not that she would ever admit it out loud. She glanced over at Root to see her making borderline orgasmic faces as she bit into her food. It wasn't that good. Shaw huffed and took another bite. She should be the one making Root make those faces, not a dumb veggie wrap, that was probably made by some underpaid teenage worker at a overly expensive restaurant. She was not jealous, no, she was just...annoyed. That's what she was. Annoyed that Root was making those faces and not for her. Yeah, that was it. 

Neither Reese nor Finch was there and the subway was quiet with the soft clicks of the keyboard of Root's laptop as she typed away on something that she turned the screen away from Shaw on. It was nothing bad per say, but it was something she wasn't suppose to be doing. She was looking up people that could fix her hearing without asking very many questions. They had to be willing to operate in a subway after all.

Shaw was getting annoyed with the silence. Even though she couldn't talk or hear, Root somehow filled the space with noise. Right now, she was making herself quieter in hopee of not drawing attention to herself but in fact was doing the complete opposite. Shaw shot up and grabbed the laptop before she had a chance to react. "Really? Do you want to die Root? Samaritan is putting all is efforts into finding you and your looking for reasons to leave? Sometimes I think you have a death wish." Root just shrugged, which made Shaw even angrier. Root acts like her own life doesn't matter, even after all that happened. It like if she didn't have the machine, what was the point of living?

Shaw pushed her, hard. She stumbled a bit, but didn't fall, so Shaw pushed her again. This time she did fall. She hit the concrete with a soft thud and a small gap from her. Shaw was hovering above her, teeth bared and angry. In other context, this attitude would probably have landed them in the bedroom, but right now Root understood the situation. "You wanna die? Sure, let's go. Why not? You obviously don't care so..." Shaw pulled her off the ground and pinned her against the wall a couple feet away.Her back met the stone with a crack that Shaw couldn't tell whether it was the wall or the girl. Root could feel the anger in Shaw's eyes as she glared. She didn't open her eyes because she knew if she did, she would start crying. Shaw hated crying. She knew Shaw was probably yelling at her but if she didn't open her eyes, she didn't have to listen, not after the woman's earlier statements. 

Shaw had her hand wrapped around Root's throat when Reese pulled her off of her. "Shaw! What the hell is your problem?" Reese shouted at her when he finally got her away from the injured girl and she focused her attention on him. "Why don't you ask her? Since she's so keen on letting people find out about her," Shaw hissed and shoulder checked him before leaving the room. 

Reese glanced at Root who was facing the wall sobbing. He did an awkward shoulder pat to try to comfort her. She refused to turn around so he left her to go question Shaw. "What the hell? What were you planning to do?" Reese growled in his low voice. Shaw rolled her eyes. "What was I planning to do? I was planning to knock so sense into her before she went got herself killed. You know, because we spent so long getting her back," she muttered, trying to mask her real feelings and failing terribly. John nodded. He understood. They had lost a great deal of people in their run. That, of course, didn't mean he supported Shaw's methods of protecting Root.

It has taken two hours and lots of internal conflict, but Shaw walked back into Root's room. She had intended to apologize, after Reese explained to her what she had done wrong. She saw the woman's small body curled up in the tiny cot with her ugly bat stuffie. Her cheeks were still stained with tears and her nose was pink. She approached the sleeping woman and stood above her wondering if she should wake her. Deciding against it, and because she was pretty tired, she moved the stuffie and replaced herself with it. Root cuddled into the warm object out of habit.

Shaw sighed contently. Feeling the warm, sleeping body next to her, she was over come with sleepiness. She placed one soft kiss to the girl's forehead before scooting more on to the bed and closing her eyes.


	4. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst with fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In writing this chapter, know that I am not deaf nor wear hearing aids, so my details on the topic may not be completely accurate.

Root felt the pressure of something laying next to her. It was warm, had hair, and was breathing next to her. Thinking it was Bear, she pushed the sleeping being off the bed. What she hadn't expected was hands flying up and trying to grip the sheets to keep from falling. Root's eyes flew open and rolled so she could see over the edge of the bed.

Shaw was pissed at having been woken up so rudely. She tries to do something nice and this is what happened. Root looked over the bed and she glared back at her. "Sorry," she mouthed. Shaw shook her head and stood up. She left the room and went to Harry's make-shift work station since the desk incident. He convinced John to take it out and burn it.

"Got any numbers today, Finch?" Shaw questions. She takes inventory of the guns in the subway while he replies, "I'm afraid not, Ms. Shaw. Mr. Reese took care of our latest number last night and no new ones have popped up, but I did want to talk to you." Shaw turns around slowly to face him. "Why do you need to talk to me?" "It appears we have found a specialist that could help Ms. Groves, which we have a decent amount of information on to know that he would help us and not alert Samaritan to her." He casually pushed envelope her way and turns back to his monitors.

The envelope was heavy and stuffed. When Harold had said they had a decent amount of information in him, he meant that he could tell you where this guy has his first kiss and where his mom used to by groceries. He seemed like a pretty clean cut guy; ignoring his half a million debt gambling problem. The guys he borrowed from were breathing down his neck and for the amount they were willing to pay, he's never speak a word.

Shaw was hesitant to tell Root about the plan just in case it fell through, but machine or no machine in her ear, she always knew when something was up.

She was reading a book with the ugly bat tucked up next to her when Shaw walked into the room. One look at her face and Root knew everything. Her brown eyes lit up and a smile crept over her face. It was the first time that Shaw had seen Root happy over something that wasn't her or the machine. 

The operation was to take place that evening after two million was wired into the surgeons account. He was only asking for one but she figured this way, he'd be even less likely to talk. Root was beyond estactic, one to leave the subway and two to regain her hearing. Shaw was worried. The guy has flat out refused to work in a subway because "I'm not having a dead girl on my hands." Root would have to go above ground into a army of agents for all they knew. 

\- - - - -

No agents were attacking them at every angle, but that didn't stop Shaw from standing right out of the door with John right beside her. After installing two new cochlear implants, the guy was in the room with Root making sure they worked. He turned them on with a small dial. Root's ears lit up with sound she went so long without. Her right ear was filled with noises from the machine again and she's be lying if she said she hadn't started crying.

The surgeon left the room, satisfied with his work, and let the pair outside the door in. They stepped inside with Shaw leading the way. "Sameen..." Root rasped from not having used her voice in a long time. Shaw shot John a look. He smiled at the girl on the bed before leaving the room. 

"Sameen," Root said again as the smaller girl encased her in her arms. "You can hear now, huh? Guess can't keep making all the comments about your ass without you smirking anymore," Shaw humored as she pulled away. "Oh, sweetie. My ass isn't the one that deserves compliments," Root replies. She tried to wink but it comes out as all her winks do, which is terribly.

After John cleared the hallway, they left the hospital with a goodie bag of things the doctor left for Root. Shaw memorize the aftercare because she knew before the guy even left the room that Root had forgot all of it. "Care to do me a favour John? Three doors down on the left, bedside table. Bring the whole thing." They continued walking and followed the instructions when he came to the right door.

"Really, Root. Roses. A dead guys roses," Shaw muttered as she was handed a full bouquet. "What? He clearly didn't need them anymore." Shaw eye rolls into another dimension but keeps the flowers in her arms. She takes a quick sniff of one flower near face when no one was looking. She could feel that crept in her face following.

\- - - - - -

"Ms. Groves, I do not see as to why you need food from a place 45 minutes away," Finch huffs while pulling his jacket on. "Harry... I just got my hearing back. I think wanting something delicious allowed for." Root glaces at Shaw while she talks. Shaw knows she's trying to get Finch and Reese out of the subway for a long as reasonably possible. And it's not like she's arguing.


End file.
